ISLAMABAD: Pakistan announced Wednesday that it was expelling the IndianHigh Commissioner and suspending bilateral trade with its nuclear-armedneighbour, days after New Delhi stripped the disputed Kashmir region of itsspecial autonomy.
“We will call back our ambassador from Delhi and send back their” envoy,foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced in televised comments.
Qureshi spoke as the government released a statement declaring thatPakistan will suspend trade with India in a downgrading of diplomatic tiesbetween the arch-rivals.
Islamabad also vowed to take the matter to the United Nations SecurityCouncil (UNSC).
Monday’s decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to tightencontrol on the Muslim-majority Kashmir had been widely expected to triggerconflict with Pakistan and reignite an insurgency that has already costtens of thousands of lives.
Delhi has insisted that the move is an internal matter.
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Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since independence in1947.
A day prior, Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to fight the issue “on everyforum” and demanded the international community take action, accusing Modiof an anti-Muslim agenda.
The Pakistani military has also said it “firmly stands” with Kashmiris.-APP/AFP
